Long Before Stranger Things, the Duffer Brothers Made This Chilling Short

Stranger Things might have made creators Ross and Matt Duffer household names, but the twin writer/directors have been working in speculative fiction for over a decade. Take, for instance, their short film Eater.

Based on the Peter Crowther short story of the same name, Eater shares quite a few commonalities with Stranger Things: cops, children in jeopardy, excellent transitions, and of course, supernatural elements. Though it’s only their second credit together (their first, We All Fall Down, is nowhere to be found streaming) there’s so much of their distinctive style and subject matter that connecting the dots to their hugely successful Netflix show becomes inevitable.

It’s pretty damn slick for a college short, but it’s also remarkable to see how much a decade of writing and directing has honed their chops since.